Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports the New York Mets organization met with the non-profit Advocates for Minor Leaguers. This was a meeting arranged by New York State Senator Jessica Ramos, and it appears to be the first of what appears to be at least two if not a series of meetings.
Ramos is the chair of the New York State Senate’s Committee on Labor. She represents District 13 which includes Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and parts of Astoria and Woodside. While she does not represent a section of New York with a minor league team, she does represent an area with a direct Mets interest.
As noted by Drellich, this was a process which actually began in January 2021 when she sent Cohen, then the new Mets owner, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred a letter seeking the Mets to address cost of living, housing, and moving of minor league players.
Since this letter, the landscape has changed. There has been an increase in player salaries, but they are still nowhere near the levels of other professional minor league players. There are now provisions for minor league player housing, but that is not applicable to married players. Mostly, minor league players won a class action lawsuit and are now in settlement talks with Major League Baseball.
There were no players present at that initial meeting, but when the second meeting occurs (at an unspecified date), it is anticipated players will be in attendance. Executive director of Advocates for Minor Leaguers Harry Marino seems optimistic lauding the Mets for these meetings saying, “The exploitation of Minor Leaguers is an industry dynamic that far predates Mr. Cohen’s purchase of the team. We hope that, under his leadership, the Mets will lead the league on this important issue.”
Similarly, Ramos seems to share the same enthusiasm noting Cohen’s responsiveness to fans and saying, “I’m looking forward to sitting down with Uncle Steve and the minor leaguers so we can work out a way to finish the job, and extend that same sense of care to all the players.”
Notably, neither the Mets nor Major League Baseball have provided a statement on either the April meeting or about further meetings.
